Fair Play for Creators

Our words and music, are the fruit of many years of hard work, and soul searching. In trying to devalue our intellectual property, our civilization is being robbed of one of our richest resources.

This support is imperative for the future of the music industry on a global scale. Talent should be encouraged, nurtured and it's product should be paid for.

Why don't we all boycott Google and use Cuil instead? Tell the listeners of our songs to do the same until Google play fairly.

Music is a gift from God, but musicians need food to perform it.

When is this going to stop?!! When is enough, enough?!

As a songwriter and composer, I, like many others, rely on being paid for the work I do, whenever it brings enjoyment to others. I fully support PRS for Music in their quest to seek fair reward for music creators for use of their music online.

I pledge my support for the Fair Play For Creators campaign. We are very happy to know that PRS for Music is defending, and protecting, the creators of music. It is right and just, all people, fans and friends in the world, who loves to download music on the www, web, or YouTube, should know that the creators of the music, and writers, composers must be compensated.

Google, YouTube... protect the writers, protect the artists!

Royalties are the backbone of the creative process. "Fair Play for Creators" by online businesses is essential to keep creativity flowing smoothly and fans being able to access the music they love.

Thank you PRS for Music for the great work you do. Google are behaving, at best, amorally over this situation. After more than 25 years of creating music professionally I worry about just how newcomers to the industry (and I) will survive in the future unless free music supply is stopped.

Artists should be paid there fair amount.

Musicians have to buy bread like everyone else. This requires something called money in order to obtain it legally. (At present it cannot be downloaded). Unfortunately there seems to be a growing trend that musicians are somehow able to live without being paid fairly for the use of their work.

This rise of the internet has given power to the people for the sharing of music they like, but has adversely taken food out of the mouths from the people creating it. It is ONLY fair that the people creating the music in the first place get back in return for the output of this material.

There are so many people out there, particularly the computer generation, who believe that music should be free and have got used to that idea. We need to communicate in some way to make them realise that making music is our livelihood. How would they like it if we wandered into their room and took away their computer just because we liked it and thought no more of it. I look on YouTube and see some of my songs that have been played millions of times and although it's great that people have the opportunity to look and listen there should be some sort of remuneration for the artists involved

We all know the world is changing rapidly and that includes the way people access and enjoy music and films. As a songwriter and performer, who is a member of PRS for Music and PPL, I am obviously concerned that people are starting to believe that everything accessed on the internet is, or should be, free. However, as a user of 'YouTube', I enjoy being able to discover new (and old) artists and want people to discover me too. The question I am left with is, "what is reasonable promotion (for which one might expect no payment) and what is free entertainment for which artists (me included) should expect remuneration?". In conclusion, judging by the recent news coverage of the 'Google vs. PRS for Music' saga, the public need to be made aware of the full facts. I would be quite happy for PRS for Music, PPL, etc. to help the general public become more aware how we make our money. Most people I have spoken to are in agreement to 'blanket' fees to be shared fairly amongst creators. The few that don't seem to think that all 'royalties' go to millionaire rock stars so their attitude is, "Why do they need anymore from me?". If only they knew that most of us only make a very modest amount of money for a lot of effort.

I think it is a disgrace what Google are doing to artistes like myself and others and I pledge my full support to PRS for Music in standing up to these people and getting things sorted Come on PRS for Music! Agree to comments being published.

I pledge my support to FPC.

Anyone who does not pay royalties to us songwriters is despicable and very unfair we work hard to provide good songs and music for the world to listen to.

As an artist I think that as long as these companies are getting their money by giving a service, well , that service is our Art, so we should be paid too.

If Google aren't prepared to pay the going rate then let's not have any music on YouTube. Music fans have many other places to listen to and purchase music both online and offline. It would be they who suffered. People looking for music would simply look elsewhere. YouTube would lose users and perhaps advertisers. They might have to rethink their whole identity. For Pete Waterman to have only received £11 for all the times 'Never Gonna Give You Up' has been played on you tube is nothing short of criminal. Believe or not we don't need YouTube as much as it needs us. So if they're not prepared to pay then musicians and songwriters world wide should not allow their work on this irresponsible companies site.

I think it’s an outrage that YouTube should dictate to a long established organisation as PRS for Music who have protected and guided so many music creators and publishers.

I am fully in support of PRS for Music in the attempt to prevent any corporate power devalue the livelihood of music creators. I hope there is a doorway open enough to resolve this soon and attempts continue to broach the wider issues of copyrighted material strewn on the internet without consent.

All the social networks such as YouTube, and others would have far less advertising revenue if it weren't for the huge amount of music clips and music tracks placed on those sites. It's high time that the revenue is shared with the creative people who helped by writing and composing to create the huge revenue streams for YouTube and others. Do not grant licenses to those who don't want to pay a fair fee !!!!!

If Google won’t pay the creators then maybe someone else could step in and fill this vacuum I am sure they are watching with interest come on Google pay the writers before someone else does.

This is a low blow to all of us that work hard to try and make a decent living from music. It just shows how musicians are constantly being bullied into a corner by big corporations who seem to think that it is alright to profit from other people's losses.

I feel that the music industry has been slow to catch up with technological trends and as a result many people see music as a free commodity. Much of the musical content used in the media benefits those using it by driving traffic and ultimately sales, but it does not benefit the creator/s. It is time we got fair pay for this content and the hours spent making it.

I fully support the PRS for Music in their legitimate efforts to collect performance royalties from international corporate entities such as Google.

I absolutely agree with what you are doing. In fact, I would go further and say that really PRS for Music and other organizations should sue Google and other companies for unlawfully making money from the exploitation of music on their sites without paying substantially towards the content owners. The advertising revenue they generate should not be allowed, unless they pay content owners for music usage. I hope that this situation might act as a catalyst for Musician and Composer Unions across the Western world to develop a common voice on the subject.

I'm a small time songwriter who won't come up on any radar but that doesn't stop me getting a bit hot under the collar. I receive royalties every year for the music I've written over the years and it pays for a holiday or two. I get commissioned locally and clients pay me for my craft. So I'm doing my best to understand why Google has taken this stance and why they have the power to simply not pay us for what we do, it's not a business model I'm familiar with outside of the voluntary sector. Is it because they don't directly charge me to see people throwing up on Google Earth or indeed watch singing kittens on YouTube? Maybe they need to talk to all the ISP and Broadband suppliers in the land if they're feeling hard done by because it's costing me £14.99 every month to access these services - whether it works or not!

I pledge my support.

As writers in this ever changing world, still trying to explore other avenues of income with internet piracy still prevalent, the last the Google needed to do was spitefully remove premium content. Ironically if you look around YouTube you can still easily find songs & videos uploaded from independent sources, for which we're not getting paid. Some common sense please, instead of Google cutting off their nose to spite their face.

As a new member it is very comforting read the comments left by so many great songwriters and to know they are on board and fighting our corner.

It's about time that we the writers had control over our material. Google can photograph our homes from above and drive past and now refuse to pay us our fair royalites.

All in favour. The current climate works against creators - music should belong to those that make it and anyone who wants to consume it should not expect to do so for free.

Good Work.